Talking like a pirate is a lot of fun in and of itself, but — let’s be honest — it gets a little annoying if you really do it all day long. So, what other things can you do to act like a pirate without necessarily talking like one? Glad you asked.

1. Bury some treasure- What could be more quintessentially piratical than this? It’s not that hard to do, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun for everyone involved.

2. Attach a stuffed parrot to your shoulder – Of course, real pirates didn’t walk around with parrots on their shoulders, because even dirty, smelly pirates don’t want bird poop on their backs. Plus, given the scarcity of decent food on long sea voyages, a parrot would likely have become a meal in short order. But it’s still fun. You could go the route of sewing a Velcro strap to the parrot’s bottom and putting the strap around your shoulder, but then the parrot’s likely to slip off. I suggest a geekier route: Get yourself some strong magnets — neodymium ones would work well, though be super-careful if you go that route. Then open a seam on the parrots bottom and sew one in there, and use another one on the inside of your shirt to attach it.

Talking like a pirate is a lot of fun in and of itself, but — let’s be honest — it gets a little annoying if you really do it all day long. So, what other things can you do to act like a pirate without necessarily talking like one? Glad you asked.

1. Bury some treasure- What could be more quintessentially piratical than this? It’s not that hard to do, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun for everyone involved.

2. Attach a stuffed parrot to your shoulder – Of course, real pirates didn’t walk around with parrots on their shoulders, because even dirty, smelly pirates don’t want bird poop on their backs. Plus, given the scarcity of decent food on long sea voyages, a parrot would likely have become a meal in short order. But it’s still fun. You could go the route of sewing a Velcro strap to the parrot’s bottom and putting the strap around your shoulder, but then the parrot’s likely to slip off. I suggest a geekier route: Get yourself some strong magnets — neodymium ones would work well, though be super-careful if you go that route. Then open a seam on the parrots bottom and sew one in there, and use another one on the inside of your shirt to attach it.

The song of the sea has long entranced the sailor and the pirate, too. Before the days of iPhones and netbooks, when even printed books were scarce, poetry was the measure of a man. Remembered, recited, revered. In honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, I thought I’d share a particularly sea-worthy poem by Rudyard Kipling, “The Sea and the Hills.” So sit back, relax, and raise your grog to the sound of the waves and the shore… so and no otherwise, so and no otherwise.

The Sea and the Hills by Rudyard Kipling

Who hath desired the Sea? — the sight of salt water unbounded –
The heave and the halt and the hurl and the crash of the comber wind-hounded?
The sleek-barrelled swell before storm, grey, foamless, enormous, and growing –
Stark calm on the lap of the Line or the crazy-eyed hurricane blowing –
His Sea in no showing the same his Sea and the same ‘neath each showing:
His Sea as she slackens or thrills?
So and no otherwise — so and no otherwise — hillmen desire their Hills!